Spot rates slip as demand and truck posts soften
DAT One load posts totaled 2.6 million for the week of Aug. 2-8, down 6% from the prior week. Equipment posts totaled 167,000, down 4%. Linehaul rates eased 1 cent to 4 cents across van, reefer, and flatbed freight. Diesel moved in the other direction: the EIA’s national average on-highway diesel price used in this week’s fuel surcharge calculation was $5.313 a gallon (week ending July 27), up 17.9 cents (3.5%) from $5.134 the week before.
▼ Dry van: $2.95 per mile, down 1 cent week over week
▲ Refrigerated: $3.38 per mile, up 2 cents
— Flatbed: $3.60 per mile, little changed
Dry van
▼ Loads: 1,159,711, down 7% week over week
▼ Trucks: 111,725, down 4%
▼ Linehaul rate: $2.28, down 4 cents
▼ Load-to-truck ratio: 10.4, down from 10.7 the prior week
Reefer
▼ Loads: 629,660, down 6% week over week
▼ Trucks: 32,275, down 9%
— Linehaul rate: $2.64, little changed
▲ Load-to-truck ratio: 19.5, up from 18.9 the prior week
Flatbed
▼ Loads: 849,008, down 6% week over week
▲ Trucks: 22,962, up 2%
▼ Linehaul rate: $2.79, down 4 cents
▼ Load-to-truck ratio: 37.0, down from 40.1 the prior week
Market analysis from Dean Croke, industry analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics
Linehaul rates have fallen every week for five straight weeks. Since the week of July 5, the national average dry van rate is down 22 cents, the reefer rate is down 19 cents, and the flatbed rate is down 21 cents.
Load posts also declined over the last five weeks, falling by 23% overall. Truck posts moved the opposite direction at first, rising 3% through the week of July 19, then reversed and fell 11% over the following two weeks, ending the period 9% below where they started.
Strong containerized imports are flowing through West Coast port gateways as shippers seek to get ahead of tariff changes. This pull-forward is expected to produce an early peak retail season, followed by a volume “air pocket” in the fourth quarter.
